The Washington critic., 1887-08-20
A FOUR-LEAF CLOVER.

under an apple tree that was sending
showers Of delicate white and pink
petals down to the grass with every
breeze, lay pretty Nora Crcely, fast
asleep. The soft and sweet. scented
leaves lay scattered all over her brown
dress, and some nestled In her thick,
dark hair, and one had fallen upon one
of her eyelids and reposed there as II
pleased with the position.
Nora's arms were bare to the elbow,
and were undeniably red and showed
signs of toll, and her face was tanned
and brown save where the healthy
young blood showed through the
brown. Her lips were parted, and be.
tween them were glimpses of white
teeth that were the envy of all who
saw them, and all who knew her saw
them often. for she was always laugh
ing and blithe, and, somehow, the
rich color, dark hair and pretty teeth
all seemed to belong TO those beautiful
blue eyes that looked so honestly out
from under the heavy black lashes;
true Irish eyes, than which none are
more lovely.
Nora was only servant, but she was
an honest and conscientious one and a
capable one, and her rich Irish voice
used to troll forth those creening old
ballads that keep you vibrating be.
tween smile and tear. The children
idollzed good Nora, and the mistress
leaned upon her in sorrow and Joy the
master spoke of her as great treasure
upon earth, and the dumb animals fol-
lowed her about with words of love
expressed in their dewy eyes.
Nora was happy, for It was the gift
of her sunny nature to be so, and she
never seemed sad or out of spirits, and
SO she was regarded as sort of perpet-
ual sunshine in the house.
Only one peculiarity had Nora and
that often surprised her gentle mistress; :;
Nora was avaricious. She was q miser
If ever there was one. She received
good wages and she never spent q
penny that she could possibly save.
She made her own poor clothes at night
when she could have been resting and
she went barefoot whenever the
weather rendered 1t possible, and, In
short, she was evidently born q miser.
Still Mrs. Satterlee never said anything
to Nora on that subject, thinking that
as Nora earned the money she had no
right to interfere in Nora's affairs.
Nora had lived with Mrs. Satterlee
for seven years. She came as child
Of 10, just after she had landed be.
wildered stranger In strange land,
and because Of her CHEEKY smile and
honest eyes she had been chosen from
among many others, and she went home
with this gentle lady to pretty coun-
try place, where she was always con.
tent, happy and efficient; as little
children were born to the mistress, so
were they born to the love of good,
kind Nora, whose heart was yelling
spring of warm affection.
Nora was now %, and there were
few girls anywhere who were prettier,
neater or better taught for one in her
station, and there were two young men
who thought her absolute perfection
One of them was blacksmith aud the
other horticulturist, but though Nora
was kind to them, neither received the
slightest encouragement. Sometimes
Mrs, Satterlee wondered whether Nora
would ever marry and have home of
her own, but she wisely let matters
take their course.
Nora wrote to her parents and friends
In the old country and received letters
from them In return with a regularity
that was lesson to many other fami-
lies, and save that Nora always sang
and laughed more for a few days after
the receipt Of those letters none could
have ever noticed any effect But the
songs were more plaintive and the
laughter not quite so rich and mellow
still she said nothing. but baby" as
they called her, child Of ., always
tlrn l.
dog at such times until Nora would
This day she had received three let.
disappointed when she looked them
over and missed one which she ap
peared to think ought to be among
them, and after dinner was over and
all her work done and the baby asleep
on the wide lounge, Nora went out to
the meadow, through which ran a
pretty brook and where the clover was
so rich and luXuriant that one almost
longed to be COW to revel in Its juicy
sweetness.
Nora sat down by the side of this
brook, and took her letters from her
pocket and read them. One was from her
father, one from n cousin and one from
her sister, who was widow.
Noras eyes filled as she read the
same old story of wrong, oppression
and abuse, and she read of the coarse
brutality of the agents who had turned
out of doors friends, relatives and play.
mates; always the same, no redress.
And now Nora's father wrote that Der.
mot Kelly's father aud family were all
TO be evicted from the land the family
had held for so many generations, aud
poor Dermot had just finished his
studies, and was about to begin the
practice Of medicine but this trouble
would set him back for years. And
then the father thanked Nora for all
she had done for them, and sending un.
told blessings for her as q dutiful
daughter, and In n postscript he added
that he hoped she would not be
TOO much discouraged by Dermots
troubles, nor tire of waiting for him to
get established. "No, that / won l.
until am tired of living. Poor Der.
mot wish he was here, 1t ia hard
getting on in Ireland now, but, oh
what can do more than am now do.
ing / send them every cent can
spare, aud 1t seems so little. There's
no one else that could do anything il
they were here to help themselves, lei
alone others. All, well We are all
born to suffer, and ii il is the will OF
God we must bear it. This is n sad
day for me"
And here Nora laid her face down
among the clover and cried, not wildly
nor boisterously, but patiently and
wearily, and finally, worn out with
emotion, she fell into an uneasy slum
ber, which grew sweeter and sounder
lnlll finally aha drnnmnd